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Dubba or Grubba?

"Well, I think we've got it then!" said Maria.

"Yeah, we should be fine for our next match now," added Pete. "I'm so excited!"

Peach smiled. She was excited too, and she felt like they were ready. She was still nervous though, and her mind kept fleeting back to the Miltons. They seemed so strange. It didn't seem like they would want to live here. And on that note, how could Randy AND Harvey both win the contest? Did they find a way to cheat or was it just some freakish coincidence? Well, Peach thought, I had better find out soon, I have a feeling something bad will happen. Meanwhile, on the other side of Glitzville, that something was about to happen, but it had nothing to do with the Miltons.

( ) (.) ( )

"Okay, ready?" said Dubba

"Ready" chorused the voices of the people in the room. Dubba's face bore an evil grin. They were oblivious to their fate. They all thought they were participating in a hotdog tasting test. "Alrighty then," Dubba continued, "Let's uh, start with the youngest shall we? That would be you, son." Dubba pointed at Grubba, his only child. He needed to use the youngest as his storage, that's where he would get all the youth. Dubba's name would change to Grubba, but he could get used to that.

"OK Dad," Grubba said

"OK, now… step in here." Dubba opened a dingy old scarlet curtain. "Just sit in there a while son, I'll bring in the… hotdogs."

Dubba watched as his unsuspecting victim stepped into the room. "OK, y'all," he said, "I'll be back 'fore you can say 'delicious hotdogs.'" He then walked into his so-called study. The only light in there was the sparkling Gold Star floating on a coffee table in the middle, which was the only furniture besides a small messy desk with an office chair in the corner. The wallpaper was peeling and some ceiling panes were missing It wasn't what you'd call glamorous, but it served its purpose. He took a thick sheet that was on the desk and hid the shining star with it. As he moved through the curtain, Grubba smiled. "Hi, dad" he said, "I'm ready to taste some hotdogs"

"Dad, you say?" said Dubba menacingly.

"Uh… dad? Are you Okay?" Grubba looked scared.

"Oh you foolish boy, I am not your father" Dubba's face began to lose its shape and color, as did his body. Suddenly he was in the form of a Dooplighost. "Now, foolish child, you're doomed!"

The Dooplighost removed the sheet and the Crystal Star sparkled and spun. Suddenly, little Grubba disintegrated into sparkles of light, which shot into the star. The Dooplighost laughed wickedly as the spinning Crystal Star stopped glowing and gently fell to the ground.

( ) () ( )

Maria was pacing the room.

"OK guys, you know the drill right?" she nervously asked for about the umpteenth time.

"Oh, d-don't worry Maria. We'll b-be fine, j-just sit down and r-relax" said Ben, looking as relaxed as if he were dangling off a cliff by a piece of floss.

The familiar fuzzy sound of the speakers filled Peach's ears. "Fearsome Five, Koopa Bros., please proceed to the ring for your match."

Peach and her friends walked up the stairs into the ring. On the other side, Peach could see 4 Koopas in masks matching their shells and gloves, In front was a red-shelled one, speaking to Jack. Behind him one with a blue shell and one with a green shell were chatting quietly. The final one in the back had a yellow shell; he was stretching in the corner.

"OK, Fearsome Five are you ready?" asked Jack as usual.

Peach looked around at her friends and nodded.

"Koopa Bros., ready?"

"Koopa Bros. ready?" repeated the red shelled Koopa.

"Koopa Bros., ready!" chorused the other three.

"OK, let's fight!" shouted Jack.

Instantly, Peach and her friends sprang into action. Ben sprinted to the back corner to charge for a super kick. Maria pulled out her book and told the others the stats of the Koopa Bros. Pete zoomed around the ring as Sam hopped and floated and jumped circles around the Koopas, as to startle their foes. Peach was to be the first to attack. She prayed to the stars and instantly glowing shooting stars rained down and struck. The startled red shelled Koopa commanded something to the others, and suddenly one jumped on the other. Sam stopped jumping. "What the…" The Koopas stacked up into one massive spinning pillar of shells. It sped towards Pete, knocking him unconscious. Maria ran over to heal him, but it hit her too. She fell with a thud on the hard ring. Ben was fully charged and sprang up, coming down on the red shelled Koopa who was on top. The Koopa Bros. fell apart, each going to separate sides of the ring. This was Pete's chance. He spun around faster and faster and faster and suddenly slammed into the red shelled one. He flew off the ring. Peach could now act. She prayed again and a beam of light hit two other Koopas. Ben finished off the last one.

"Winners: The Fearsome Five! Give it up everyone!" shouted Jack.

Peach waved at the crazy audience. Maria and Sam had gotten up by now, and they were jumping up and down in excitement.

The higher the five grew in rankings, the more attention they got. There were headlines all over the Mushroom Kingdom like "Peach Toadstool: Princess of Pain" or "Princess or Fighter?" By the time they were shooting for the Major League, they were some of the best known celebrities in the entire kingdom.

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